5 famous 'two-man' penalties in footballing history

#3 Johan Cruyff and Jesper Olsen - Ajax

Johan Cruyff became synonymous with the two-man penalty

Perhaps the most famous one of the list, Johan Cruyff’s impudent effort in an Eredivisie game against Helmond Sport in December, 1982 has gone down as one for the highlight reels. Cruyff had returned to his beloved Ajax at the end of his career, and the 35 year old stepped up to take a penalty that was awarded when the score was 1-0.

Given the need to ensure the win, what followed was incredibly courageous of the Dutchman, as Cruyff placed the ball down on the pitch and immediately tapped the ball to his left, allowing Ajax’s Danish winger Jesper Olsen to rush onto the ball and draw Helmond keeper Otto Versfeld out of his goal. Olsen then passed the ball to Cruyff, who impudently tapped the ball into an empty net, leaving Versfeld in disbelief, as Ajax ended the game 5-0 winners.

The goalkeeper was still in shock, much like the rest of the crowd, later saying “I was totally flabbergasted. I was trying to work out what had just happened!” Johan Cruyff for his part, had a far more entertaining goal, saying "It was just before Christmas, so we wanted to give our supporters a gift to remember!"

Here is a video of the penalty: